


3...2...1...GO!

by orphan_account



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Humour, Idols are not just a pretty face, Multi, OOC, Romance, Street Racing, btw I'm joking about the relationship tag, gasoline burning, speed racing, speedy speed boy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-08-26
Packaged: 2018-08-10 19:18:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7857835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The idols manage to dig up Anzu's parts, or at least the remnants of what's left of her crashes. Leo is starting to learn the rules of illegal street racing in Japan, otherwise known as Hashiriya. Can Leo and Anzu defeat the mysterious duo team in such a short amount of time? Can they find resilience at the end of the road?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Young man, there's no need to feel down.  
> I said, young man, pick yourself off the ground.

Hajime watched his upperclassman tuck her brown hair behind her ears. She appeared to be concentrating at her work. He eyed the piles of paper surrounding her desk, few of them have fabrics stuck onto them along with colour schemes. He debated the pros and cons of talking to her, but he has dance rehearsal after this lunch break. After a minute, he walked up to her desk. Anzu smiled at him and knew he was there since the beginning. She placed down her pencil and greeted him.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked. She added a saccharine smile with her words, replacing her ready-to-kill(design) face.

_"Hajimechin, have you ever been to Akagi?" Nazuna asked._

_"No, I haven't," Hajime replied. He and Nazuna were eating gari gari outside of classes, it's just only the two of them since Tomoya and Mitsuru are at club events._

_"Anzu told me that she's from Akagi, that's pretty far away from here..." Nazuna bit off a chunk and tensed up._

_Hajime waited for Nazuna to get over his brain-freeze while slowly sucking on his popsicle. After swallowing, Nazuna grinned at him._

_"She told me she has a car! A Toyota one...something..Tooeno?" Nazuna finished off._

_Suddenly, an invisible lightning bolt struck Hajime through his heart as his mind raced back to all those memories. Yes, he knew about her Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86. When he was late for class, he looked out at the window while running. On that very faithful day, he watched his elder sister close the door to her white furnished car. It looked way too immaculate to be a regular car. She parked it directly next to Sagami-sensei's cheap jeep. The sight was...incredible._

Back to present day, Hajime gulped down his panic and slowly breathed out. 

"Is your little brother called Takumi Fujiwara?" he inquired.

Anzu's brain short-circuited, and wondered if Hajime had been watching Initial D but also felt suspicious. She slightly rose up from her seat and looked at her underclassman. He's so cute, too pure for this world. She can't possibly involve him in her world. 

"No, his name is Ryosuke," she replied.

 _THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT ANY BETTER!_ she screamed inwardly.

"Ah...I see...sorry for asking," Hajime whimpered under her intense gaze.

Then, Anzu realised that whatever progress they've made towards their friendship, it will all be lost if she continues to hide her past. Also, Nazuna is a blabbermouth.

She sat back up and patted the chair next to her, silently urging Hajime to sit next to her. 

"I want to tell you a story," she smiled.

She didn't bother to wait for Hajime to sit down to start. She glanced off into the distance, her eyes appearing glazed over and whimsical. 

"A year ago...no, two years ago, I was friends with a girl named Mako. She was in the third year, and I was in the second year. We became friends when she came over to my parents shop for car repairs. Ah, my mother is a mechanic by the way. My dad worked part-time at a tofu shop"- she sighed, feeling long-winded-"and I had no friends".

Hajime was surprised to hear that, because she was so much more sociable than he is. He nodded to encourage her to go on.

"We talked, and she invited me to watch her race. That's when it all began. My passion for street racing".

 _Whew, I thought Anzu-san might've been involved in a gang,_ Hajime thought to himself.

"Then she invited me to join her team not long after I started my driving lessons," she continued.

_I spoke too soon._

"Well, the rest was history. I started taking an interest in cars, my mother encouraged me on this. It's been a while since I have made so many friends, and I always invited them over for dinner. You see, in Akagi, everyone knows everyone, so gradually we became sort of like a family. I...wish I could tell you more but, I can't". She looked so down-trodden.

Anzu's hair brushed against her shoulders as she avoided Hajime's gaze. Strands of brown hair fell, covering part of her eyes in an attempt at hiding her expression.

He brushed his fingers against her hand, and felt guilty for inquiring in the first place. The shorter boy felt he should comfort her. Obviously whatever happened must've had a big impact on her. 

"You know," he began.

"Everyone has their secrets and burdens, but no one should have to go through them alone," he murmured. 

Anzu smiled and let her head rest on his small shoulders. Hajime smelt like lavenders. It felt welcoming. She knew she shouldn't slack off at this time, but she felt refreshed after talking about Mako, even just a small bit.

* * *

 

"Poems about embarrassing moments," Ritsu read off the card.

Leo harrumphed and balanced his pen on the tip of his upper lip. That was a hard one.

"It was my first name,

I felt such elation,

Oh no,

Premature ejaculation,"

Tsukasa turned around from his wheel-chair. "What did you just say?" he asked. Tsukasa's left eye was twitching.

Leo's pen fell  down and wondered whether his friend had bad hearing. He decided to repeat it, this time with a funky tune. Man he's so awesome, he should totally write this down. It's going to be so sick.

"I was saying"-Leo wriggled his eyebrows-"It was my first time-"

The red-haired boy was silenced by a shoe to the face. It was one of Tsukasas' spare dress shoes, he could afford to buy another one rather than wash the filth off of it. Ritsu mouth made the shape of an 'o' in amazement at his perfect aim. "That's archery club for you," he said.

"It's okay, I am a benevolent King. Tsukasa, here's your shoe"-he was cut off again by another brown shoe to his face, nailing him right on the nose-"blarrgghh".

Ritsu clapped in amusement, yes entertain him you fools. Dance monkey, dance!

Tsukasa wrapped his arms around his knees, now shoe less he doesn't want his feet to touch the floor. Rather than walking and picking it back up, he would have to suffer the indignity of his shabby appearance.

"I'm not going to apologise," he stated. 

Leo had that goofy grin on his face again, he knew Tsukasa would eventually come around to reconcile with him. It was like this every single time.

All of a sudden, Izumi burst into the room like Barry Allen. He panted heavily and had a two-way radio in his hands. It looked like a black brick honestly.

He grabbed a chair and slumped down on it, there was still static noise coming from his radio. Tsukasa raised his perfectly manicured eyebrows.

"You seem to be exhausted, Sena-senpai," Tsukasa pointed out.

Ritsu poked Izumi with his index finger, jabbing into his side.

"Let me die in peace, this world is meaningless to me. Mako lost, therefore we all are lost," Izumi managed to say before he wiped his manly tears away.

"It's over. Mako's career is over, there's no way she would be able to get back up from this," he sobbed, holding his head in his palms.

Leo walked over to Izumi, like everyone, they are high on alert because it's extremely rare for this boy to cry. They all wondered what event, so tremendous, had caused his emotional distress?

He rubbed his sore nose, feeling a sense of dread wash over him. He didn't feel as bad at that time last year when he left, but he knew there was something off about his friend. "Izumi, what's going on?" he asked.

"Someone from our school beat Mako at a mountain pass race, they want to challenge the Akagi speed-stars to an acceleration race," Izumi explained through deep breaths.

Silence washed over the four boys in the dance studio.

* * *

 

_Street racing, is a sport which occurs on a public road. Two cars, two timers, only one will be stopped first. It's illegal in Japan, which is part of the adrenaline in the first place. She was never one to take on risky activities, but street racing was more than that. It was freedom to them. Their high-performance cars were motor wings for them to take flight into the night, blaring their engines away. It took their minds off a lot of things, all they need to do is. Drive._

Anzu looked down at her smartphone, the notification from an unknown sender bleed out like a warning sign to her. She pressed on the button, and held her breath.

**Mako lost to Sato on the mountain pass.**

**What a shame, she had a burning potential in her.**

**Meet me at the same road, @9pm 8th of August.**

**I will be waiting! （*´▽｀*）**

 


	2. I had sex with KNIGHTS but all I got was this shitty song written about me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sena and Anzu bump into each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hohoho another update!

The premise of Sena's life is that the world he live in are detached from his own reality. First, in the morning he starts off with a face wash. Gentle cleanser of course, he had previously exfoliated his face the day before. He waited till the water became lukewarm, so his pores could open up first before he starts washing. He lathered his hands to get more foam, then massaged his face gently. His fingers gently rubbed against his skin in circular motions, to get his blood circulating. He rinsed it off, and it's time for his serum. He grabbed his bottle of hydrating serum from Kiehl's, pumping out the gel onto his fingers. The brand was good for his sensitive skin, despite the price. The eye serum was rarely used, but since he had puffy eyes this morning, he applied it on too. Sena doesn't use a toner, because most of them have alcohol, and it dries his skin. Finally, he dabbed on moisturising lanolin cream on his face. His name is Sena Izumi, he is seventeen years old. You can grip his hand in a greeting and still feel the lack of pulse in him, he simply refuses to feel anything. 

But that's a lie.

You can set Sena on fire and his skin will peel off, but he would not scream.

You can break his heart into a million pieces, but he would not cry.

_I deserved it after all._

This is his inner self, his true persona. We are living our lives, abound with so much information. 

Sena slipped on his brown dress shoes, sparing a glance at his pointe shoes. He grabbed them as well, they fell into place alongside his radio.

 _Just in time for the bus,_ he smiled.

Earphones are a weak barrier against socialising, in order to truly master the art of being undisturbed, you must put up a front of nonchalance. Girls and boys alike wouldn't dare approach him, because he mastered the art of smiling. His smile could be described as devious or sly, the purpose of it is to make people wonder "what is he planning? what is he thinking about me? he's looking too deep, stop!". Most of the time it worked. He enjoyed his peace on the bus, and during classes. He was the best at feigning interest in whatever the current discussion was. His feet tapped against the polished floor in a steady rhythm. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Kaoru dozed off and got a scolding from the teacher, maybe he played around too much? There's no way that the slacker was tired from practicing Undead's latest song. During their 15 minute break, Arashi piped up and asked sarcastically if he's being sponsored to stay quiet.

"I thought you enjoy torturing the cute little students?" Arashi stirred his hot earl grey tea. How in the hell did he manage to bring the cup with him in the middle of the corridor?

"I do, I just don't have the time," Sena sighed for extra convincing.

Lately, he took up ballet dancing again because he thought it wouldn't hurt to pursue his other hobbies. He wasn't particularly bad at it, in fact he wanted to become a danseur noble when he was younger. Pfft, what a dream.

He remember bumping into a girl older than him, the last time he went for a long-term modelling shoot. They were suppose to be advertising for a student travel agency, he's a teenager, and a student, so he fit the criteria. One time, they gathered up on a mountain pass, in the cool breeze of autumn. Sena and some other girl, she had ginger hair tied up in two buns, Arisugawa Otome. She looked like she could sell you candy instead of vacation destinations.

His thinly veiled insults didn't get to her thick-skull, unless it's about her idol activities. He opted to stay out of annoying Otome on his first day, that girl had friends whom are big in the idol industry. "Hey, if you eat too much you won't be able to stay awake for the next shoot. I don't want any hassle through the photo taking though you will fall into the water~" Sena leaned on his hand.

"That's okay! Otome can swim!" she yelled out happily.

"That's beside the point, look if you can stop shoving your face with popcorn maybe we can wrap this up quicker. You see, I got better things to do than sit around all day in this sweater weather with you".

"Oh! I want to see the kittens at the dango shop after this! Let's hurry, hurry!" she fist bumped him in the shoulder.

_This was fun Sena, time to take a hike._

The silver-haired boy sighed and left the table, he still had half an hour from his break. He didn't eat much, just strawberry yoghurt and a banana. As expected, on a day like this, he wants to enjoy the weather by himself.

They weren't at the peak anymore, so he opted to walk around the lower grounds of the mountain to pass time. 

"Hey kid! Hey bozo! Not you, I don't even know you!" a girl cried out. 

Sena turned around to face a taller girl with long brown hair, her fringe was swept off to the side. He hated craning his neck to look up at her.

"What do you want? Can't you see I'm just taking a stroll?" 

"I sure can. Listen here kid, you're stepping on our tape. The thin strip of orange under your shoes, there! We need that for distancing. Although we should really get a timer board...but finances ugh" she rambled on.

He looked down and did see a thin strip of orange tape on the ground. He let curiosity overtake him.

"What are these for?" he pointed out.

"Promise to keep it a secret?"

"...Fine".

"We're holding mock races at night, cool right?". It was obvious she couldn't keep the excitement out of her tone.

Before he could respond she patted him on the shoulder and said, "if you want you can come watch us, we always start at 10pm".

With that, she walked away, and Sena couldn't respond.

Then he remembered her loss against Sato, and he gave his condolences to her self-esteem. 

"Mako," he whispered. Unknown to him, there was a girl wearing a pink cardigan right behind him.

"Can I have a word with you, Izumi-san?" Anzu smiled sweetly at him.

* * *

 

Leo took a sip from his cola, apparently through means of blackmail (probably), Anzu had managed to get him and Sena to go to Wacdonalds with her. He ordered a coke with small fries while Sena opted for an apple pie. Che, they were out of taro ones. The stubborn producer took a bite out of her hamburger, wiping her hands away with the napkin.

"So, did you need me for something?" Leo questioned.

Sena and Anzu shared a look, the girl sighed and spoke first.

"Well, I need your help with something," 

"Woah this better not be about 'Yuu-kun' and playing matchmaker!"

Sena glared at him. "It's not like that-"

"Hush Sena, I'm feeling that we haven't done much romantic songs lately..."

"Anyways!" Anzu interrupted. "Izumi-san told me you have a drivers license, and I don't have enough time to ask other people. Tsukinaga-kun, let's form a speed racing team".

**chirp chirp chirp**

Leo took some more fries and chewed on it, pondering about what Anzu mean by 'speed racing'. Sena nudged Anzu for more explanation. She looked at him with an evil glint in her eye and gently kicked his shin. He winced in response, and warned her that she would face a potential lawsuit for injuring his legs, which are insured for a thousand dollars. 

The two KNIGHTS members engaged in deep conversation from the beginning, mainly about how Sena met Mako. Then, Anzu chimed in with her middle school story. Leo nodded, deep in concentration. 

"So you see, Mako was really determined to become a professional drag racer, but she lost against this person named Sato. What's even more weird, I got this text message from anonymous. Izumi-san says it's definitely a challenge," Anzu said.

"They're challenging us to a duel?" Leo shouted.

"Not us, but I don't want to do it alone..." she admitted.

Leo and Sena looked at her, her shirt cuffs were frayed and rolled up to her elbows. She had her hands clasped together, resting her chin on them. A worker walked to the table next to them to clean up the trash left behind. It was after school hours so girls and boys were crowded in the fast food restaurant. Despite the noise, the two boys waited for Anzu to collect her thoughts together. Their trays were a mess, Sena had balled up Anzu's hamburger wrapper and attempted to toss it in the bin. Leo leaned back and placed his hands against the back of his head.

"I see, I see, so it's pretty urgent right? Well no one is better suited to the job than me!" Leo grinned.

Anzu perked up, surprised that the Knights leader readily agreed to her request. She expected more resistance because he had a lot of school work to catch up on, but when inspiration strikes, you grab it by the wrist. Or motivation in this case.

"Anyhow, how do you plan on teaching this king how to speed race? He's the paranoid driver type," Sena inquired.

"Patience, lots of patience. Firstly, we will get Tsukinaga-kun adjusted to the acceleration of the car. Mostly, to prevent vomiting of course, I do hope you're not car sick..." she fiddled with the buttons on her cardigan.

"Hahaha! Me? Car sick? Psshaw, I can take it!" Leo yelled out enthusiastically.

Anzu smiled, guess she was worried about nothing after all. 

* * *

 

After they waved goodbye to Sena, Leo and Anzu settled down on the highway. Sena walked past Leo and patted him on the shoulder, he whispered "good luck". Leo thought that was a tad bit dramatic for Sena, but he shrugged it off.

"You see, we're going to try driving on this highway. It's usually very busy during the holidays, but you will get the drift of how fast cars should be able to go. I take it you are not familiar with highways?"

"Well, I avoid them all the time, but hey! Maybe I will get used to it".

"Very comforting, okay buckle up," Anzu undid her ponytail. Their schoolbags were nested at the trunk, and Leo wondered whether it's a good thing he didn't eat much at Wacdonalds.

Anzu stepped down on the pedal after they went through the safety precautions, which were childs play for Anzu but she's trying to take it slow with Tsukinaga-kun.

The speedometer went up to 90, and Leo sat there, very still. 

Then it increased to 130, Anzu was calmly steering the wheel, driving around in circles. Leo sat there, very, very still.

"Anzu, is this all you've got?"

 _You asked for it punk_ , she thought to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hohoho  
> my tumblr is crispydnic feel free to yell at me


	3. Rage your dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anzu and Leo are going to participate in a road rally, Tsukasa is awfully supportive.

Anzu drove past the highway, leading them to a road with less traffic. She didn't say anything during the ride at all, and simply gripped the steering tightly. Leo looked outside the windows, watching the reception towers pass him. One by one, the grey faded into a lush green. They were in a concrete jungle which eventually became an actual jungle, no one was there. Inwardly, he panicked for a moment thinking that Anzu might murder him because nobody is watching. The trees were large as life, stretching out towards the sky in a triangular shape. There was hardly any breeze, he noted. 

Leo let out a whistle, the trees reminded him of the ones in My Neighbour Totoro. It was the essence of tranquillity, he could just die right now and he wouldn't mind at all. Then a brown pigeon caught his attention, because it's a pigeon. But it's brown! He prefers white doves though, or mandarin ducks. They give that feeling of romance y'know? Sometimes, things on Earth can be beautiful if you look past the corruption. Like, really crack your eyelids open and look past with 10/10 vision. Man, since when did he get so pessimistic? 

"Hey, hey, where are we going?"

Anzu ignored him and continued driving. They passed two corners, and she remained silent. Her breathing was steady, she need it to be. She remembered what Mako said to her, "if you don't know yourself, you will lose". She needs to hold herself in, form a barricade against her fear of crashing. She is ready, she knew it. The car began to feel like another limb to her, she was in the zone.

She imagined there was another car in front her, and they're attempting to make a break for it. Trying to lose her in their mirrors. After this slow right, there's going to be a sharp left. If she doesn't slow down in time, she will crash into the ravine. She felt the car began to go really fast, out of the control. Anzu heard Leo gasp next to her and shouting something, but she can't afford to pay attention to him now. She applied pressure onto the steering wheel to the opposite direction of where she's turning. Then she steered into the turn, hitting the brakes lightly. This caused the Toyota to drift sideways facing slightly away from the turn. If this was a tall van or any car with a high centre of gravity, they would roll over. That's why she prefer to stick with this car, and learning all facets about it. Treat your car as if you would treat your liver, or was it kidney? 

But in her mind, she barely passed the other car. The car must be out of her sight, it isn't over until they disappear completely from her mirror. She hit the pedal and sped up further. They turn to a curve, so she drifted while manipulating the weight of the brakes. Leo screamed, the car was almost touching the guard rails! 

"Anzu! Anzu!" he managed to call out.

"Are they gone?" she muttered.

 _No, the_   _counter-attack...will come at the fifth consecutive hairpin curves ahead!_

"We're going too fast, are the brakes broken or something?!" Leo yelled. He glanced at her determined expression. This was beginning to get really exciting. "Wahahaha! You're still full of surprises as ever!".

After the fourth curve, she tapped on the steering wheel with her forefinger. "Now!" she shouted.

Before the other car reacted immediately, she reacted slowly in order to maintain her distance. Her last-second reaction at the turn left the car grazing against the guard rails, like a gentle touch of death.

Leo stared at her, his mouth felt dry.  _So this is speed racing, this was her world._ Anzu gradually slowed down and stopped the car. 

"That was too slow," she whispered under her breath.

Leo brushed back his bangs which where blown waywardly during the ride.  _She's a perfectionist freak._ He wondered, did she feel the same when he came back to school? The same crushing disappointment at himself? A piece of memory struck Leo, like Diana's arrow. He remembered shutting himself in his bedroom writing down pieces of composition. There were coloured markers everywhere, since he relies heavily on visual techniques to write down his inspirations. That when when his little sister asked him if he could manage to write a space opera. He can if he doesn't eat for 3 days. Also, he detests IV drips now,  but hey maybe one day KNIGHTS would be able to perform one of the songs. On a crop circle, to call out to the aliens above, their masterlords.

"This is what you're going to learn," Anzu said. Her voice sounded small, almost fragile. To break the ice Leo said "I won't fail as your disciple" in a lighthearted way.

"So when are we going to start avenging Mako-chan?" 

Anzu smiled wryly, and decided to tell Leo the whole story.

"The thing is, I confessed to her when she graduated. Okay? I like girls," she admitted.

"Me too, that's something we have in common," he gave her a thumbs up. 

"Sexually"

"That's not what we have in common. So then what happened? You two aren't dating right? Oh damn, you got rejected!"

Anzu gave him a look which read 'how could this happen to me, I made my mistakes but I don't deserve this'.

"If I were Sena I would laugh at your misery, but how about this instead? When life gets you down, make lemonade~" Leo said. He rubbed the back of his head, feeling uncertain about handling romance when he himself isn't adept at maintaining his own friendships.

She shook her head, feeling dumb for talking about her feelings with Leo of all people. They're not even that close, but somehow she thought, hey this guy wouldn't judge me right? Because he's way more weirder than me!

In middle school she fell in love with 'I don't drink because I'm scared of liver failure' Mako. The same girl who brushed her hand against hers everytime she felt nervous before a race. The same girl who held her in her arms when their homeroom teacher passed away. She never said a thing, and Anzu never cried because she felt too embarrassed. However, she already exposed herself to her and shown all her emotions. The reason why she's always composed, letting nothing get to her. At that moment when Mako hugged her, she never felt so warm before in winter. Mako was more than paranoid, she always done things by her own terms. But when they're both alone together, there was no such thing as an uncomfortable silence. Perhaps, because she saw Mako through rose-coloured lenses, maybe that's why they didn't work out. She idolised her, but that meant nothing to Mako. She wanted an equal.  _I don't think I can win this, not for her, not for myself. I'm so pathetic._

Leo grabbed a handkerchief from his bag. It had rudimentary bunnies sewed on them, thanks to his adorable little sister. He placed the handkerchief in Anzus' hands and grabbed them to wipe away her tears because she wasn't moving. Her face was red, never in her life had she felt so irrelevant in this world.

"Sorry," was all Leo said. _Sometimes, he can be caring when it's the right moment._

* * *

 

 

"Wow~ with a face like that not even hundreds of ice packs can save you, what's got you so blobfish looking?" Sena said to Anzu in the morning before classes start. They both beeped their student identification cards, thankfully the officer avoided Sena because he does not want to see his gravure photos. Anzu said something but it was too loud. Sena placed a hand on his hip, "Don't tell me that you looked in the mirror?"

Anzu laughed, then coughed from breathing in too suddenly. "Oh I just cried because of love problems. You understand right?" 

Sena hummed to himself, responding with a shrug before he walked towards his classrooms. Someone like her wouldn't understand the depth of his affections, and the way he goes about it.

"I'll see you at your studio!" Anzu called out. Sena waved languidly at her in reply.

 

Tsukasa brought over the teacups, yet again Arashi isn't there for their regular meetups. He brewed oolong tea because it's Anzus' favourite. With her being the ex-president of the tea club he can't afford to embarrass himself in front of her. He was thinking about the message from the leader that Ritsu had relayed to him. Utilising the Japanese language to the level of a well-read literary genius, Ritsu sent him this.

**Suu-chan com meet at studio and bring food**

Ah, a mistake. He probably couldn't be bothered to correct it. Well, they're all late except for Sena whom is sitting on a chair reading a fashion magazine. Unbeknownst to Tsukasa, Sena was reading 'Glass Mask' underneath the glossy papers. Invested in the plot, the main character reminded him of a less obnoxious version of their leader.

"The Naked King has arrived!" Leo bellowed out. He expected Narukami-senpai to be walking behind Tsukinaga-senpai, but it turned out to be Anzu. She waved at them two as she entered.

Sena put down his magazine, revealing the true contents of it to Tsukasa. The younger boy didn't know Sena had such refined tastes in manga. 

"Hello Leader, Anzu," Tsukasa greeted warmly. Anzu took a seat next to Sena and thanked Tsukasa when he offered her tea. He didn't hear her opinion about it because Sena interrupted Leo's speech about the well-being of his little sister. 

"How did yesterday go?" 

"Hmm, it was neat! You know I was thinking of performing a song in a crop circle and"- he paused -"Anzu is really good at drifting".

"I don't understand, what happened yesterday?" Tsukasa asked.

Sena and Anzu exchanged glances, he nudged her in the arm while she kicked him in the shin. Not gently this time. 

"Ow! I wasn't even there!" Sena glared at Anzu.

"Ah right, sorry Izumi-san. Hmmm...how do we start...Well okay...Tsukasa. Me and Leo are going to form a car rally team," Anzu explained. "I used to know a girl named Mako who was a proficient racer, but she lost against someone I don't know. Then, I received this text message. Here I will show you," she continued.

Tsukasa took her phone and read the oddly phrased text. "I didn't know you can drive?" was the first thing he said.

"Me and Anzu both have licenses earned through manual driving!" Leo chimed in. He preened himself in preparation for a compliment. It didn't happen.

It took a while for Tsukasa to process this situation which had nothing to do with Knights or any idol activities really. Why would someone challenge Anzu and Tsukinaga to a race match? He failed to understand, so he started from the beginning.

"What does 'drifting' mean?"

"It means to aim the car at a wall or a corner and miss it completely," Sena interrupted. He sipped his tea, helping himself with the sugar cubes.

"Ah Sena you're here! Give me some tea too~" Leo said.

Tsukasa sighed and handed another teacup, fine china he added. Leo reached out to grab it but Tsukasa very reluctantly let it go unlike Idina Menzel. 

"You're going off and deciding things by yourself again? What about us?" Tsukasa asked.

"What about us you mean? Look here, Rittsu is late and Naru is not even attending the meetups anymore! Think for yourselves, a bird can't always rely on its mother after all," Leo retorted.

Sena grimaced and settled down his cup on the table. He whispered in Anzu's ear, "Are we all involved now?" 

Anzu stood up, clinking the teacup with her fingernail to get everyones' attention. "Sorry Tsukasa, I didn't mean to burden you all with my problems. Leo and I thought it would be better to tell you because you are part of Knights. I...don't know what's happening myself, but Leo and Sena are helping me out. Of course, you don't have to, I thought it would be a nice gesture to let you in...because you are my friend".

Sena slow-clapped, "what a touching speech, do you need a tissue Kasa-kun?".

He felt irritated that Anzu had to do her awkward speech and share her awkward life story with them. Of course he doesn't understand the extent of Anzu's feelings for Mako but, she was the one who broke the friendship first. He remembered seeing photo booth stickers on Mako's journal, though Anzu had shorter hair back then. Either way, he planned to find out whether someone had grudges against Anzu. He's all about that drama.

"Point is, um, you don't burden us. It's my duty as a Knights member to help out the commoners after all hahaha," Leo tried to extinguish the tension.

"So, what's my involvement in this?" Sena asked.

"Can you be our flagger?" Anzu replied. Sena sighed and brushed his fringe away from his eyes. "I guess so, how troublesome," he responded. Sena picked up his magazine again and started reading from where he left of. He only had one chapter to go.

Tsukasa eyed the leader's movements, he was scratching his chin. Deep in thought about what to say about Anzu's request, he wondered whether he can fit in the introduction of 'New Moon' into their driving practices. To be honest, he had wanted a demonstration of Tsukasa's singing abilities. He had already decided the bridge will be left up to Rittsu, and speaking of which. He wanted to discuss with Naru about the title of the song, though he loathed to admit it, Naru is good at coming up with song titles.

Tsukasa thought the leader had an amazing variety of expressions, it was almost like watching a film. "Am I correct in saying that you are continuing this and also our activities?" he wondered.

Leo glanced at Tsukasa. "What makes you think you know me, newbie?"

Sena poured himself more tea, wishing that he had popcorn right now because this is getting very interesting. They were in the studio so stagelights surrounded them, the biggest one focused onto Tsukasa and Leo like they were in a reality television show. It didn't help that Leo had a theatrical style of expressing his opinions. He rolled up his Elle magazine into a cone and yelled, "more emotion please!". Anzu smacked the back of his head.

"Sorry I'm late". Ritsu walked in and everyone turned to stare at him.

"Ritsu-senpai where is Narukami-senpai?" Tsukasa broke the silence.

"Ahh...about that, he told me not to tell," Ritsu replied. He yawned while stretching his arms into the air.

Leo eyed Ritsu with suspicion like they were in the McCarthy era and Ritsu had said he wasn't right-wing.

* * *

 

Chiaki thought Narukami had a nice apartment, despite the lack of humans in it and all. Before Narukami explained to him that his parents were on a vacation, and he declined to join them on a holiday to the Bahamas because he hates hot weather. "Narukami, do you prefer stormy weather?" he asked out of curiosity. 

"Well, is Autumn your favourite season?". He smiled, acknowledging the pun. Chiaki placed a hand on the wall for support when he took of his shoes. A white cat with blue eyes greeted them in the hallway leading to the living room. He smiled, kneeling down to stroke the cats' back. "What's her name?"

"Purrina, she's my princess so don't step on her tail please," Narukami requested. Purrina meowed at the sound of her name and clawed at Narukami's school pants. Chiaki saw the long nails on the cat and wondered how he didn't scream in pain when they dug into him. Love makes you stronger, he guessed.

He walked into the living room after placing his backpack on the kitchen table. There was a mini chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and a dust covered plasma television. Next to the television was a stack of DVD cases, he recognised one of the titles to be 'Inception'. Other than that, there were quite a lot of romantic comedies he had in his humble abode. Narukami yelled from the kitchen, "Would you like some barley tea?" 

"Seriously why do everyone assume I like barley tea and persimmons?"

"You give that vibe, I will get water for you then," 

There was a beanbag on the floor and a beige sofa in front of a coffee table. Being the very mature teenager he is, Chiaki plopped onto the beanbag and sunk in it. His legs were too long so he ended up just lying his back on the beanbag. 

Narukami came back with two cups in hand, one of them had a hello kitty on it and another one had a cartoon drawing of a kid farting in someone's face. The blonde handed the fart cup to him. He didn't say anything about Chiaki choosing to sit on the beanbag, and sat on the sofa. "I was thinking of cute names we could call ourselves, it feels too rude to not put a face to us, don't you think?" Narukami said.

Chiaki snorted, and sat up straight. "I want to hear your suggestions, please".

"Dolly Wink?"

"That's a start, hmm...How about Flaming Flash?" 

"Please Chiaki-chan, alliteration is so 90's. How about Pink Ladies?"

"I prefer fuji apples. How about Crimson Dragons?"

"Too edgy, I want something more cute. Majolica Holica?"

"What is that even suppose to mean?"

"It sounds cute and it rhymes~"

"Looks like we are at a standpoint here then. Why not write down what we think would be a good team name and let's combine them together?"

"Alright Chiaki-chan"

They both got out their notebooks from their bags and a pencil in hand. Chiaki thought Narukami uses really adorable mechanical pencils. One of them had a crown on it with pink jewels. Another one had a teddy bear giving another teddy bear a hug. Purrina was busy eating her freshly prepared chicken. They both spent about five minutes writing down their lists, and on a count of three, swapped papers.

"Justice Roar?" questioned Narukami.

"Angelic Bell? Really, Narukami?" Chiaki responded.

"Call me Naru, but don't you think Angelic Roar sound like a oxymoron?" 

Chiaki eyed Narus' list, scanning them for any hypothetical good team names. "How about Justice Angels then?" he suggested.

Naru laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "Anzu-chan will think that we're perverts".

The taller boy took out the prepaid phone Naru had bought for ten dollars. "Let's type out our next message then, partner".

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH


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